Telltale has announced today that the developers are suffering from a round of layoffs that will ultimately impact 90 developers and Telltale employees, resulting in an overall reduction of 25% of the company.
The studio, best known for its narrative-driven takes on the world of Batman, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Walking Dead, and others, has been doing pretty well for itself by creating well received games based on big licenses. However, when Pete Hawley – formerly of Zynga – was named the new CEO, many believed a restructuring would be taking place.
Speaking on the layoffs, Hawley went on to say that the decision to downsize the company was due to the company wanting to make itself “more competitive as a developer and publisher of groundbreaking story-driven gaming experiences with an emphasis on high quality in the years ahead.”
According to Hawley, the studio will continue to create games, but will now be making fewer, instead focusing on higher quality over quantity. “Our industry has shifted in tremendous ways over the past few years. The realities of the environment we face moving forward demand we evolve, as well, reorienting our organization with a focus on delivering fewer, better games with a smaller team,” said Hawley.
“I’d like to express our respect for all the contributions that these incredibly talented artists, storytellers and more have made to this company, and that this decision is in no way a reflection on the quality or dedication of their work.” said Hawley. “We have made available our full career assistance services to help our affected colleagues and friends – and their families – navigate this difficult transition as quickly as possible.”
As always, it’s never a good thing when people lose their jobs, especially in an industry like this one. While it’s sad that a large amount of people are now without jobs, we can only hope that they’ll land on their feet as quickly as possible.
[Source: Game Informer]
